Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro made a contribution of 500 thousand dollars for the inauguration of the American leader Donald trump, the payment was made through Citgo Petroleum. The fee surpassed the corresponding transfers of funds from major American companies like Pepsi (250 thousand dollars), Walmart (150 thousand dollars) and Verizon ($100 thousand). The Associated Press noted that the contribution from the government of Venezuela is comparable to payments JP Morgan Chase and Exxon, which also contributed to the inauguration of the trump 500 thousand dollars.
The largest contribution in the amount of one million dollars did Bank of America.
Only Trump has collected $ 107 million of donations for the costs associated with its inauguration.
For big-time donors like Boeing and Chevron, the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump sounds downright romantic.
They'll be treated to an "intimate" dinner with Vice President-elect Mike Pence and his wife. Then there's the "elegant" meal by candlelight — part of inaugural festivities described by the event's planner as having a "soft sensuality."
All that and more could be yours if you ponied up at least $250,000 to help fund Friday's inaugural events, according to a brochure obtained by multiple news outlets.
The Presidential Inaugural Committee has raised at least $90 million — a record — to pay for the festivities and provide big donors some face time with the new administration. Donors at the $100,000 level even get a "policy discussion and dinner with select Cabinet appointees."
In addition to the aerospace giant Boeing ($1 million donated) and the oil company Chevron ($500,000), AT&T, Verizon, and Coca-Cola are among the big companies helping fund the galas, balls, and other pomp and circumstance welcoming Trump to the White House on Friday.
Presidents in both parties have long welcomed corporate donors to their inaugurations. What's different this year is the amount raised — roughly equal to the sum of each of President Barack Obama's — and a lack of transparency. Trump inaugural officials have broken with recent tradition and declined to release donor information before the event.
Critics say this cozy access for corporations and special interests goes against Trump's campaign rhetoric.
"This is very dangerous," Fred Wertheimer, president of the nonpartisan government-accountability organization Democracy 21, told Business Insider. "It is a form of filling the swamp rather than emptying it, to use the words of the president-elect."
